Beyond the Tenth Floor
"Juni, come on, eat your food. Okay?"
"...Huh? Oh, yeah."
At Fortuna's urging, Jun—who had been staring blankly into space—finally stirred the chopsticks he'd been idly holding. Before long, though, he sank back into thought, and the chopsticks went still once more.
Ever since lunch had begun at the food court in the central plaza after his conversation with the Guild Master, the same cycle had repeated itself without end.
"Jun∼."
Worried for him, Fortuna set down the snack she'd been eating and called his name with aching tenderness. She believed he would turn to her with that soft smile of his, the way he always did. She expected him to hold her close and apologize for making her worry.
But he gave no answer, as if her voice never reached him at all.
"Hmph∼."
It was the first time she had ever been shut out like this since their souls had been bound together. Fortuna, who leaned on him for so much of her emotional strength, felt her insides burn blacker with every second of his silence. The fairy wings that once shimmered so beautifully lost their color and drooped; her bright golden eyes clouded over and began to glisten with moisture. She looked for all the world like an abandoned kitten.
Why? Why would she say something like that and torment our Jun!
She seethed with resentment toward the one-eyed black cat who had filled his head with useless words. She hadn't even managed to wring a single useful clue about the enemy out of the prisoners they'd handed over, and yet she had the gall to say the world was in danger and that he needed to hurry up and grow stronger so he could join the fight to save it? As if that made any sense at all.
Our Jun isn't a Hero! He's just an ordinary person who happened to get reincarnated!
If she was going to dump that kind of talk on him, the least she could have done was wipe out the enemies hunting his life—or, failing that, give him some real help growing stronger first. But all that woman had offered him was a chance to pick two worthless scraps from the storage room—the item warehouse. That was it.
And that opportunity should have been his by right in the first place. He had delivered not one but three prisoners of an unknown enemy. That much was the bare minimum she owed him. To act like she was doing him a favor by granting something that was already his due? Back in the days of the Ancient Empire, that black cat would have lost her head three times over.
For the record, an unrestricted selection of any grade was the highest reward the Guild could offer. It only looked trivial to Fortuna because she had seen the glorious relics of the Ancient Empire with her own eyes.
"Unnie, please compose yourself. You know full well that my lord is not deliberately shutting you out."
"Dohwa, but still..."
"He will be fine before long. And of course he will cast off all that needless sense of responsibility and duty as well."
Dohwa knew her husband well enough to understand that he was capable of making cold, clear-eyed decisions. Right now he was merely shaken by the black cat's ploy of needling his conscience—but soon enough he would choose the safety of his family above all else.
Though when the moment actually arrives, he might reverse that decision...
Her husband could make cold decisions, but his heart was never quite ruthless enough to back them up. Even for the sake of a friend as close as family, he would throw himself into situations where he might die without a second thought—and he had spent five whole years cleaning up after that greedy little lion cub simply because of affection. That alone said everything.
Until now he had survived thanks to Fortuna unnie's efforts, but if something similar happened again, there was no telling when he might run into a crisis beyond even her power and lose his life.
To prevent that ending...
This humble one shall become an asura. Even if these two hands must be stained with blood, for the sake of my lord and Fortuna unnie's happiness, I will bear that karma with a smile.
Dohwa made the vow deep in her heart. Her pink eyes settled into a cold, still depth.
Watching her, Rebecca spoke.
"Dohwa unnie, that sort of work is my specialty. There's no need for you to step in—leave it to me."
"...What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Don't play dumb, unnie. I can tell what you're thinking just from the look in your eyes. You mean to cut off every attempt by the people around us to use our husband before it starts, don't you? Your power isn't suited for that kind of work, so stop fretting over it and leave it to me."
"...Are you daring to insert yourself into a matter your elder sister intends to handle? What an insolent little sister you are."
Dohwa's voice was ice. Under ordinary circumstances Rebecca would have flinched and taken her words back—but this time she folded her arms with stubborn pride and held her ground. That was how precious her family was to her.
After how hard I searched to find this family, I will not lose them for nothing.
She had spent decades alone in a far-off foreign land with nowhere to belong, and only after all that struggle had she finally found a family. Her husband was a bit of a womanizer, yes—but he was strong, handsome, and above all, he understood his wives. Her two elder sisters were so noble she scarcely felt worthy to call them unnie, and though their personalities differed, they shared the same deep care for family.
From the day she began living with them, every single day had been so happy and warm. Now that she knew this happiness and warmth, she could never go back to locking herself alone in a workshop and building bombs the way she used to. Looking back, her extreme behavior as a bomb maniac had probably sprung from loneliness.
So what would happen if she lost her family—if she lost that happiness and warmth? Even Rebecca herself could not predict what she might do.
I will protect them no matter what. For myself, for my sisters, for my husband. Even if it means turning my back on the entire world!
"...It seems you are quite resolved. Very well. You may assist your elder sister."
"That's what I wanted to hear. First things first—shall we drive off those freeloaders looking for any excuse to latch onto our husband?"
"I agree. Out of consideration for my lord's dignity I have left them alone until now, but I can no longer stand it—I feel as though I shall choke on my food."
Dohwa and Rebecca each drew out a pink bird and a bomb, scanning their surroundings.
"Is that him? The one they say is a hero candidate who'll help the Hero?"
"Yeah. That's what the adventurers are saying. His powers are no joke."
"Hmph! A commoner can only go so far. How impressive could some commoner who never even attended the Academy really be?"
"You think so? From what the Guild Master and the staff are saying, though, the odds of him joining the Hero's party are really high."
"...Damn it! Why would the Hero want a guy like that!"
A wall of people packed tight around them. Curiosity, envy, doubt, admiration, rage—every kind of emotion poured openly onto Jun. When they had first arrived at the Guild, the black cat had warned that anyone who approached him without leave would not be forgiven, so no one dared cling to him directly. But their mere presence was enough of a nuisance.
If it ended at mere nuisance, that would be one thing. But looking at those whose eyes had gone blind with envy and rage, who were already showing impure intentions, there was no chance it would stop there. They had to be cut off in advance—by making the gap in power, the very question they all shared, unmistakably clear.
"No. Don't."
Just then, Fortuna—who had been gazing endlessly at Jun—stopped the two of them without ever taking her eyes off him.
"...If unnie says so, we shall obey. However..."
"At least tell us why."
Dohwa and Rebecca put the pink bird and the bomb away as instructed, but still demanded an explanation.
"You can chase those kinds of people off a hundred times and they'll never disappear. Not until you remove the root cause that creates them."
With that, Fortuna flew up with all her strength and rubbed her whole body against Jun's face. Then she bristled her fairy wings with open hostility and glared at one side of the human wall.
At the same moment, the far side of the wall she was staring at grew noisy, then slowly parted to either side.
"Hero-nim! Look over here! Kyaa!"
"I'm confident with heavy lifting! Even as a porter—please, just let me into the party!"
"Saintess-nim! You're so cute! I want to nibble you!"
"I'm confident in my mental fortitude! So please use me as the Saintess's personal punching bag! Please!"
"Who just yelled that?! Drag him here right now! I'll kill him!"
Through the gap, the Hero and the Saintess stepped inside the human wall, scanned the area, confirmed Jun's position, and came straight toward him. Standing before him, the Hero spoke in place of the Saintess, who still looked thoroughly displeased.
"Adventurer Jun. As the Hero who bears the fate of the world, I speak to you. Join my party and take part in the salvation of this world."
Tap. Tap.
Having said that, the Hero undid two buttons near the bust of her shirt. Then she thrust the alluring valley that naturally revealed itself right before Jun's eyes.
"If you do as I wish, I shall offer my breasts as your reward."
It was a proposal far too luscious to refuse.
"Jun, are you really okay? You won't regret it?"
"I'm fine. No regrets."
"Really? Really really?"
Fortuna did not look as though she believed his denial at all. Seeing that reaction, Jun briefly reflected that he might have been living a little too obsessed with breasts.
"But still, but still. The Hero's and the Saintess's breasts are way bigger than Rebecca's."
"Uh, unnie. Why am I suddenly...?"
"..."
Rebecca, who had been checking her gear, grumbled that the mention was unfair. Dohwa kept her mouth firmly shut, watching Jun and Fortuna carefully in case she herself got brought up next. For Dohwa's sake—who would suffer even worse than Rebecca if named—Jun stroked Fortuna's head and considered how to put her worries to rest.
Nothing's really coming to mind.
Ever since he had refused the Hero's offer the day before, Fortuna's anxiety had been running high. He had whispered sincere words to her and fed her sweet snacks, but even now, right before they entered the labyrinth, there was no sign of it settling.
With no other choice, Jun leaned in and whispered into her ear the words that had at least had some effect before.
"Really, don't worry, For. No matter how crazy I am about breasts, I'm not so crazy I'd follow them into the afterlife. And as tempting as the Hero's and Saintess's breasts are, they still don't measure up to yours."
"...Right, right. For's breasts are the best, aren't they?"
Standing off to one side of the Sanctum—the transfer platform—the Hero and the Saintess were watching them. Looking at the real things hanging on those two chests as he said it must have carried more sincerity, because Fortuna's expression improved a good deal. Then, as she rubbed her breasts against his face as if to brand the fact into him, Jun was just letting out a sigh of relief when his face twisted with difficulty again.
The Hero and the Saintess were walking briskly toward them, and hostile stares poured in from every direction as a matter of course. In particular, the two Holy Knights and the Priest who appeared to be their party members were glaring as if they meant to kill him.
Whether they noticed or not, the Hero and the Saintess planted themselves firmly in front of Jun. The Saintess, who looked thoroughly foul-tempered, spoke before the Hero could.
"You. You're making a face right now."
How did she know?
Startled, Jun reflexively reached up to check whether he had forgotten to put on his mask.
"Iris, you must not arbitrarily assume another person's feelings. I have warned you any number of times."
"...Ugh!"
Fortunately, the Hero scolded the Saintess first. Humiliated at being reprimanded, the Saintess flared her eyes and glared daggers—not at the Hero, but at Jun.
Hey, what did I even do!
Jun felt thoroughly wronged. The one at fault was the Saintess, and the one who scolded her was the Hero—so why was she glaring at him? He hadn't even opened his mouth!
As if speaking for his feelings, Fortuna glared right back at the Saintess and shouted.
"What! Who do you think you're glaring at! Want me to scold you too!"
"Eep! Huh?"
The Saintess flinched hard at Fortuna's scolding. Then she tilted her head, as if puzzled by her own reaction. Jun thought he knew why—but he had no obligation to explain it to her, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Iris, step back for a moment."
The brief silence that had fallen was broken as the Hero took a step forward. Because of the memory from the day before, Jun's eyes naturally drifted to her chest. She was wearing thick armor that showed not the slightest bounce, but the breastplate—swollen out to accommodate the size of her breasts—was lewd simply by existing.
"Adventurer Jun. It has only been four days since you finished your last expedition, and already you are resuming exploration? How very diligent of you."
"Not at all. Hero-nim and Saintess-nim haven't been in Lemumni long either, yet you're heading straight into the labyrinth yourselves."
"I am the Hero. Until the day the world is saved, rest is a luxury."
"Yes, please do your best. I'll be cheering you on."
"..."
The Hero, who had worn a soft smile the entire time, suddenly furrowed her brow. What was that? Did the encouragement not sit well with her? He had put his whole heart into it.
"I shall be waiting on the upper floors. Please come to the floor where I am as soon as possible."
"No, I already told you I'm not joining the Hero's party."
"Please keep in mind that all of humanity must unite for the salvation of the world. That is all."
"Huh? Uh, Ellie! Wait up! Why are you so mad!"
"I am not angry. Hurry along."
Leaving only the words she wanted to say, the Hero turned without a backward glance and returned to where her party members waited. The Saintess hurried after her, then briefly turned back, stuck out her tongue with a "Beh∼," and left.
"Beh∼."
"Don't, For. That's something little kids do."
"Okay! For is a grown-up, so For won't do it!"
Stroking Fortuna's head in praise for listening so well, Jun thought to himself that the Hero and the Saintess seemed a little strange.